The Jurassic biosiliceous sediments from the Sicanian basin in Western Sicily: new data

• Autorzy: Chiari, M. , Di Stefano, P. , Parisi, G.
• Konferencja: International Congress on the Jurassic System (7 ; 06-18.09.2006 ; Kraków, Poland]
• Języki publikacji: EN

Abstrakty

EN

Detailed stratigraphic analyses on Jurassic radiolarites from centralwestern Sicily provide new data on the onset of the biosiliceous sedimentation in the Sicanian Basin. Studies were performed in two structural units of the Maghrebian chain that crop out south of Corleone, i.e. the Monte Barraců and the Campofiorito units. The radiolaritic unit at Monte Barraců consists of radiolarian-bearing cherty calcilutites alternating with cherts and levels of siliceous marls. The lower zone is green-grey coloured, while the upper one is red. This unit covers uppermost Triassic – Lower Jurassic cherty calcilutites through a large-scale stepped unconformity of submarine origin. The upper boundary (affected, in places, by synsedimentary deformations) is transitional to a thin unit of red wackestones with Saccocoma grading upwards to pink to whitish calpionellid cherty wackestones. The radiolarians from samples collected in the radiolaritic unit (lower zone) indicate a Late Bajocian to latest Bajocian – Early Bathonian age (UAZ. 4-5) for the presence of Ares cylindricus flexuosus (Takemura) and Parahsuum(?) magnum Takemura. The transitional zone between green and red radiolarites contains a radiolarian assemblage which indicates a Middle-Late Oxfordian age (UAZ. 9) for the presence of Emiluvia pentaporata Steiger & Steiger and Saitoum levium De Wever. Samples collected in the uppermost zone yielded Podocapsa amphitreptera Foreman and Hexasaturnalis minor (Baumgartner) that indicate a Middle-Late Oxfordian to Late Kimmeridgian – Early Tithonian age (UAZ. 9-11). In the Campofiorito section the radiolaritic unit covers a 20 m thick unit of basaltic pillow lavas and hyaloclastites, resting in turn on Lower Jurassic cherty calcilutites and marls. The lithologies of the radiolaritic unit are well comparable to the Monte Barraců ones. In this section samples from the basal zone could be dated as Early-Middle Bajocian to Middle Bathonian (UAZ. 3-6) for the coexistence of Paronaella kotura Baumgartner with Unuma echinatus Ichikawa and Yao. In the upper part of the section a poor preservation of radiolarians in the studied samples prevents further biostratigraphic evaluations. The new data fit well the biostratigraphic evaluations already available from the adjacent structural units of Monte Genuardo and Giuliana. They indicate that the onset of the biosiliceous sedimentation, in a large sector of the Sicanian Basin, can be “bracketed” between Late Bajocian and Early-Mid Bathonian times.

Słowa kluczowe

EN

radiolarians; Sicanian Basin; Western Sicily

• Czasopismo: Volumina Jurassica
• Rocznik: 2006
• Tom: Vol. 4, no. 1
• Strony: 153-154

Twórcy

autor

Chiari, M.

autor

Di Stefano, P.

autor

Parisi, G.

• CNR, Istituto di Geoscienze e Georisorse, via G. La Pira 4, 50121 Firenze, Italy